Christian Bale: 'I Didn't Quite Nail It' as Batman, But I'm Done

Christian Bale is passing the Batman torch to Ben Affleck, and it sounds like he has a few regrets from his time in the role. In a talk with Yahoo Movies, Bale took a wistful tone, like he was looking back on a relationship where he just wasn't good enough for his partner -- that partner being Heath Ledger.

"I didn't quite manage what I hoped I would through the trilogy," Bale told Yahoo. "[Director] Chris [Nolan]; did, but my own sense of self is like, 'I didn't quite nail it.'" What did he want to achieve? Bale explained, "Batman, he's this very, very dark, messed-up character. I found when I put on the suit I went, 'I just feel like a bloody idiot if I don't use this as a means to kind of [show] his true, monstrous self that he allows to come out in that moment. Let's do that.'"

However, Heath Ledger's performance as Joker in "The Dark Knight," was so good it was a shock to Bale's system and gave him second-thoughts about his own choices. "Heath turned up and just kind of completely ruined all my plans. Because I went, 'He's so much more interesting than me and what I'm doing.'"

Bless him, but yes. Anyone who was around before "The Dark Knight" came out probably recalls the skepticism when Ledger was cast as the Joker, figuring he would be stuck in the shadow of Jack Nicholson's most recent cinematic portrayal. But no. Ledger created something breathtaking and new and won a posthumous Oscar for his efforts. (Jared Leto is the next Joker, and has faced his share of skepticism for his own reasons.) Now Ben Affleck is taking on the role of Batman, and you were definitely around for all the fanboy angst when his name was announced as Bale's follow-up.

For the record, despite perhaps feeling some regrets, Bale said he has no plans to return to the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. "That's enough. Enough's enough. We did our bit. It's done. I've got nothing else to offer." Don't beat yourself up, man. You definitely made your mark in a positive way, even if that voice... never mind. You were more than enough for us, and we thank you for your service to Gotham.